With ‘Breaking Dawn,’ I Remember My Love At First Bite

Anyone and everyone who has followed, covered or been involved in the release of “Breaking Dawn – Part 2” has at some point addressed the fact that this is The End. There are no more “Twilight” books to adapt at this time, until Stephenie Meyer writes another one or someone in Hollywood decides to reboot the blockbuster franchise. As such, we’ve all been saying goodbye-for-now via first-person narratives, video tributes, etc.

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This week’s “Twilight” Tuesday will serve as my little goodbye-for-now party, wherein I give thanks to the people who got me interested in this “crazy vampire romance” in the first place: the fans. Because let’s be honest, none of this hoopla would have been hoopla without the early adoption and continued dedication of a very special and attentive group of people. Sending a virtual blanket thank you and hug to all the “Twilight” fans for your enthusiasm and support, without which I would have lost interest long ago. And now for a few specific shout-outs…

I first learned about the “Twilight” books in early 2008 when I was writing an unrelated story for a New York newspaper about Valentine’s Day and self-help books about relationships and kept seeing extravagant displays of Meyer’s books in every bookstore I visited for research. I didn’t pay enough attention to read them until a chance encounter with one special fan and my future “Twilight” mentor/spiritual guide, Ms. Adriana Reynolds. I met a then-16-year-old Reynolds with her family while on what turned out to be a whirlwind trip from New York to Los Angeles to San Diego for Comic-Con in July 2008. Reynolds and her family were driving to San Diego so that she could attend just one panel: the “Twilight” panel. Due to a series of coincidences, I ended up traveling with them for the entire trip, during which I was given an introductory course on Meyer’s book series. Reynolds’ enthusiasm would have been enough to get me to read all the books, along with the fact that she is and was an intelligent, talented and driven young woman, but after observing the thousands of teenage female fans who also made trips down to San Diego that year — a gender-centric gathering that had never happened at the famous comic-book convention before — I knew I had some catching up to do.

So fast-forward through a three-day reading binge, my joining Team Jacob forever and other boring in-between things to my employment here at MTV News and when I needed to consult a few expert sources on the subject for a story (Reynolds was a busy high school student then, taking too many AP classes to be available for my questions) and was e-troduced to Laura Byrne-Cristiano of TwilightLexicon.com, Kallie Matthews of TwilightSeriesTheories.com and Kara Hassell of TwilightersAnonymous.com. These ladies helped me in so many ways, particularly when I needed opinions on trailers or their reactions to casting and other big news.

And then there are the wonderful fans I met at two incarnations of “tent city” ahead of the “Breaking Dawn” premiere in Los Angeles two weeks ago, the lovely ladies behind our favorite creative “Twilight” fan page, “KStew’s HBG,” and the dedicated and delightful bunch at Spunk-Ransom , to name a few. Twitter-related shout-outs and thank yous to those who kept and still keep me entertained with excellent enthusiastic commentary: @TwiZing, @TatooMickey, @LondonStew, @kstewartnews, @KStewAngel and @StrictlyRobsten. Thank you forever!